


Picture Purrfect

by Freedom_Shamrock



Series: Miraculous Acts of Kindness [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Marichat, probably crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 04:52:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10757085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freedom_Shamrock/pseuds/Freedom_Shamrock
Summary: Chat Noir has been visiting Marinette for a few months, and he's happy to pose for her drawing practice.  Sabine and Tom are proud and supportive parents.





	Picture Purrfect

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fuckingchatnoir](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=fuckingchatnoir).



Marinette's pencil brushed lightly across the page as she shaded the sketch of Chat Noir, sitting casually on her balcony's railing.

"How's it going?" he asked.  She wasn't sure how he managed to stay so still, in the same pose, without altering his expression.

"Almost done."  Catching the pencil in her teeth, she rubbed at the graphite with her thumb to blend it better.  "Just need the last few touches on the background."

"How **do** you do that?"  The cat was definitely curious.

"What?  Draw?"  Her eyes glanced up as she pulled the pencil out of her mouth, before returning her focus to the page.  She wasn't sure how well this would have turned out in black and white without the the full moon.  Maybe someone else could have pulled it off, but she probably would have needed to go full color to have it work.  The wispy clouds and bright night made for a really interesting setting for the black cat of Paris.

He snorted.  "You spoke just as clearly with that pencil tight in your teeth, as you do without it.  Is it because you're used to talking while holding things in your mouth?"

"What gave you that idea?"  It wasn't offensive, but it was odd.

"Well, you make clothes," he explained.  "And I know other people who make clothes, and they hold pins in their mouths while marking for alterations."

She paused a moment and looked fully at him.  "You're familiar with that part of the process?"

He rolled his eyes, but didn't otherwise move from his pose.  "Far more so than you'd imagine."  He shot her a mischievous grin.  "The tailors I've worked with all seem capable of having full complex conversations through a mouthful of sharp metal."

Giggling, Marinette turned back to her drawing.  "Occupational hazard, or skill," she said.  "Like dentists who can understand what you're saying when they have your mouth pried open and they're poking at your gums."

"Maybe that's it," he agreed.

It was a late spring evening, and the light breeze was warm.  Chat had started visiting Marinette a couple months back, after he'd brought her home following an akuma attack.  Her Miraculous had timed out halfway across the city, and he'd seen her jogging along the sidewalk in a slightly less safe part of town.  Since he'd used his cataclysm in the fight, he must have fed his kwami and retransformed on a rooftop somewhere.  Since he was heading the same direction, he offered to be her taxi.  The ride had been exhilarating.  It was quite a bit more invigorating to leap across rooftops when someone else was in charge.

"So the great Chat Noir works with tailors on a regular basis, does he?" she asked, lightly throwing in the last few details before committing to them and going over them more heavily.  

"Yup."

"Would that be in your personal life or your professional life?" she asked, before realizing she shouldn't.  She wasn't supposed to be using her friendship with him to figure out who he was.  "Sorry," she blurted.  "You don't have to answer that."

"It's okay," he assured her.  "It's actually nice that you want to know."  He was silent a moment.  "It's both, really.  My personal and professional life kind of blend together."  She couldn't help but think he sounded resigned to that, like he would prefer things be otherwise but didn't have a choice.

Lifting her pencil from the page, she smudged a few more lines, then turned the sketchbook toward him.  "All done.  What do you think?"

He pushed himself off the rail and eagerly leaned forward.  "Oh, wow.  You're amazing, Marinette."  He sighed, wistfully, gazing at the picture a little longer before raising his head to look at her.  "You know that, don't you?"

"Thanks."  She couldn't hold back the smile and light blush his compliment triggered.  "Do you want it?"  She offered, preparing to pull it out of the book.

He caught her hand.  "I'd love it, but I can't risk it."  He sighed again.  "Can I take a picture of it?"  He pulled out his baton.  "It's the safest way for me to keep it."

 

* * *

 

 

It really shouldn't have been a surprise.

Her parents adored the heroes of Paris.  They'd designed Ladybug birthday cakes and Chat Noir macarons.  On the most recent anniversary of the superheroes' appearance in Paris, they'd done a whole day of red and black, and green and black pastries.  It had been very successful.

She came home from school on a Friday afternoon to find her Chat Noir night portrait, framed, and hanging in a prominent location visible from the door.  "Ah!" she squeaked, pointing at it.  She clapped both hands over her mouth to prevent any other screeching.  

Her mother looked up from the counter where she was helping a couple of teenage girls.  "Good afternoon Marinette.  It's perfect right there, don't you think?"

"I've never seen that print," one of the girls said, moving to get a better look.  "I'm sure I'd remember it."

"Oh, it's not a print," her mother said proudly.  "It's an original piece."

"Really?" the girl asked.  "Who's the artist."

"My daughter."  Her mother beamed as she handed back the girl's change.  

"Meep!"  Dammit.  She needed to get her reactions under control. Her face went completely hot as the girls looked at her.

"Do you have like an etsy shop or something where you sell your prints?" the second one asked.  "Cause I'm in this Chat Noir fan group, and we'd totally love to buy your art."

Marinette shook her head.  "It's… just a hobby.  Really."

"Sweetie, don't sell yourself short," her mother said.  "The other drawings of him were quite good.  This one just seemed the most complete."

The girl who'd mentioned the club grabbed a napkin and scrawled something down on it.  "If you decide to take commissions, or make a print shop or something, could you let me know?  You're seriously talented."

The girls left, and Marinette stared at the napkin.  "Maman, why did you put that up?" she moaned.

"Your father hung it up," she replied.  "He had to.  It looked too nice to stay in your book.  And… well, you left the book out and open in the living room, so we thought you meant for us to see it.  We wanted to support you in this."

Marinette felt certain there was subtext she was missing.  "Support me in what?"

"Dating one of the heroes of Paris, of course," her mother said, with a little laugh.

Marinette choked.  "What?  No… I'm **not** dating one of the heroes of Paris."

"Oh."  Her mother seemed puzzled for a moment.  "So you're dating both of them?"

"What?!"  She gawked at her mother.  "No.  Maman!"  She let out a groan.  "I'm not dating anyone.  It's just a picture."

"Just a very realistic picture of Chat Noir on your balcony during this week's full moon," her mother amended smugly.  "You may not be dating him, but I sense a distinct ' **yet'** to that statement."  She reached into the basket by the register.  "Chocolate chip cookie?"

Marinette snatched the cookie out of her mother's hand and stomped through the bakery to the stairs, muttering to herself.  "Dating Chat Noir. Oh my god.  Oh my god.  Oh my **god**."  

As the door swung shut she plainly heard her mother talking to herself.  "She's so cute when she's in denial."

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a 30 minute speedwriting exercise in response to a Tumblr post [here](https://squirrellygirlart.tumblr.com/post/160090522213/hey-my-followers-miraculous-acts-of-kindness). In my five minutes of research, I ran across [this excellent post](http://fuckingchatnoir.tumblr.com/post/158832367864/fuckingchatnoir-if-you-guys-ever-feel), so I used it as my inspiration.


End file.
